Black Wings and Other Things
by NickeltheRed
Summary: Inspired by the 50 Sentence Challenge. Various moments mostly looking into the lives of Elizabeth, Ciel, and of course the black butler. Elizabeth/Sebastian.


**Well, this is mainly ****for my regular Kuro. crowd. You know who you all are and you've just been so wonderful!**

**Anyway, I always wanted to try out the 50 Sentence Prompt Challenge, but suddenly my 50 sentences turned into 200 sentences—ha, oh well. My muse went awry. **

**It's a healthy mixture of manga and anime components, random happy and sad moments, good Lizzy, dark!Lizzy, bold Lizzy, other AU ideas, my various headcanons or _Book of Damnation_-inspired elements...as well as any additional humorous possibilities I thought up. Enjoy!**

**All rights go to Yana. I own nothing. There are little script snippets I borrowed from the _Labyrinth_ and _Supernatural_ franchises too.**

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**1.** The intense horse chase leads them to a narrow cliff; Elizabeth, dismounted and fighting for survival, slips heels first after the stumbling enemy grabs at her ankle...and the jagged rocks fall with her as she screams down the cavern, but before she the hits the raging waters below, she is caught and cocooned by a great mass of black wings.

**2.** Sebastian can't distinguish if it's the Contract with Ciel he is reacting to…or if these new thoughts are really his own, but ever since she has become the very center of Ciel's world, she is just becoming as important to him as well.

**3.** For some reason, her heart quickens when his gaze lingers upon hers.

**4.** There comes the day when Elizabeth finally has to let the words slide out, "What are you?"

**5.** At first glance, her innocence shines brightly like a great fiery beacon lit after dark, but overtime the demon can see it's starting to dim bit by bit into dying cinders.

**6.** Sebastian assures their family that Ciel is entirely safe with him and no one bad will ever get close to the boy as long as he's around…however to Elizabeth's ears, that statement just means he's just as dangerous as any villain would be.

**7.** Elizabeth was the very first person throughout his entire lifetime to come running up to him with a huge smile plastered across her face and throw a pink flowered bonnet over his head…and has lived to tell the tale.

**8.** Elizabeth's instincts continue to instruct her to act more careful around Sebastian for now on—because she can sense if she'd ever ask for anything from him—the favor wouldn't come free of charge.

**9.** The demon stares down at Elizabeth with genuine disbelief as she warns him strictly and privately, "Don't _ever_ touch one of my swords again."

**10.** On the morning of finding Ciel's lifeless body, a swarm of crow feathers gently roll about Elizabeth's feet as she descends the stone steps of the Phantomhive Manor one last time.

**11.** "Sebastian," Ciel cuts in, catching his own butler gazing at Elizabeth walk across the room with a certain _hunger_ in his eyes, "…what are you doing?"

**12.** When she suddenly kisses him, it's not tender…it's unpredictably arousing, seductive and gluttonous; and she wants him to play along and _fight_ against her after she pushes him into the mirror hanging on the wall behind him hard enough to make it _crack!_

**13.** After she confronts him late that night almost in tears, asking about Ciel's mark, Sebastian sighs and admits that Ceil received the mark on his back from a hot branding iron…but Elizabeth shakes her head furiously and spits out, "That's not the _mark_ I was talking about, you monster."

**14.** When Sebastian plays the piano, Elizabeth hears beautiful notes carrying excitement and forbidden tales long since passed—although—when Sebastian overhears _her_ playing on her own, he can nearly hear her heart breaking with every key her fingers press.

**15.** As soon as he bends over to refill her teacup, an inquisitive Elizabeth leans in closer and whispers God's Latin name into his ear, _"Deus…,"_ and in shock, Sebastian flinches briefly in pain before he turns away wordlessly without another glance behind.

**16.** Her carefree laugh baffles him to no end.

**17.** After the third night of having her fall asleep in his bed, Sebastian closes his own eyes and is actually able to drift off and _dream_.

**18.** He actually shows up at Ciel's funeral, looking calm and guiltless as ever—and Elizabeth, now a sudden young widow in everyone's book, strolls forward to embrace him out of sympathy and he stiffens at the contact, unsure what to do next.

**19.** "Sebastian," she says heavily with a sigh as she gazes out into the sunny garden beyond the windowpane, "…Tell me about when the angels fell."

**20.** The demon doesn't know why exactly, but each time he sees a ballerina music box playing in the marketplace, he thinks of the Master's fiancée.

**21.** Sebastian offers her a full freshly-made tart for a surprise treat, though she merely plucks a single berry off the top, bites into it, and then twirls on her heals rather mockingly, leaving him stunned and honestly a bit offended.

**22.** "What piece am I, Sebastian?" Elizabeth gazes knowingly at the Master's chessboard and notices how the Dark King and one of his Knights are standing aside on their own, as if Ciel has purposely done this for some reason—and moments later, the butler smirks at her while he moves forward to place one of the White Knights next to the two lonely pieces.

**23.** "No, don't close it Sebastian," she sits up in her guest bed quickly, gasping loudly right as the thunder booms in the distance. "Please, leave the window open…I like listening to the storm."

**24.** If there's one thing the demon may never be utterly prepared for…it's that little giggling whirlwind of bright colored dresses and yellow curls.

**25.** Sebastian happens to be the one who catches her in act of climbing out of the Church window in a slight panic on what was _supposed_ to be her grand wedding day. "I...I can't marry him, Sebastian…I can't have that life, I'm done."

**26.** Ciel and Tanaka are watching Finny trim the seasonal shrubs with all the excitement in the world…though Elizabeth is watching Sebastian look at the mother robin who flutters from her spring nest to find a meal for her hatchlings, and in Sebastian, Elizabeth can nearly make out some sort of quiet longing to sprout a pair of wings and soar off into the clouds himself.

**27.** When Sebastian, as a polite servant, casually asks Elizabeth if her family has any party plans arranged for the upcoming All Hallows Eve Festival, she says with a wide smile: "Yes, Sebastian, this year I'm actually thinking about dressing up as the Devil."

**28.** Ciel is just about sick to his stomach when his fiancée and his butler are in the process of bonding over a new litter of kittens they find in the street.

**29.** Elizabeth is forced to call for Sebastian to help her out of the bathtub since her muscles are so sore after an incredibly long day of training earlier on at home, and Sebastian is honestly memorized by the number of battle scars she has running along her womanly skin.

**30.** A new company client is greeted by a proud Noble Lady dressed in black emerging from the shadows, followed closely by a smirking butler, "I am Countess Elizabeth Phantomhive and welcome to our home."

**31.** She can't bear it anymore, something in her just snaps, her manners fade instantly and she gives into her impulses and tosses her punch into Sebastian's face and she stalks out of the room, glaring at the other jaw-slacked servants as she went.

**32.** She approaches the butler slowly, stepping closer to the winged beast he is now, and ever so carefully, her hands reach up, allowing her fingertips to graze over the rough surface of his horns.

**33.** It might not be proper, or even that logical on his part, but he does it anyway—he gives her the red rose.

**34.** For a human, the demon decides she is attractive, especially now as she stands beneath the full moon amongst the soft falling snow.

**35.** As Ciel pants and thrives with desire upon her in their bed by night, it's all Elizabeth can do to stop herself from crying out the demon's name instead.

**36.** Following the latest assassination attempt, it's the Countess Phantomhive who aids Sebastian in dressing the fresh wounds in his hand, and he watches her delicate fingers twist the bandage cloth around and around, not telling her that he'd only heal within the hour.

**37.** Elizabeth glances at Gray with pure, hard agreement burning in her eyes, "I don't trust his butler either, Charles…."

**38.** He finally reveals it all one day and says he's a demon, and Elizabeth wants to believe him, but she wonders how he could be such an evil thing when he has become her true savior in all her loneliness?

**39.** It's atypical for demons to successfully breed with humans, but it happened, and once she died in childbirth leaving him all alone to raise and teach their golden-haired, hybrid (illegitimate) daughter well into the Twenty-First Century, he still calls his offspring by the only name that he thought would suit her best: Elizabeth.

**40.** The way Sebastian looks at Ceil personally unnerves her, but the way he starts to look at her thrills her even more so.

**41.** The current grin he aims her way is unnaturally wide and it's full off _fangs_.

**42.** For once Elizabeth is the one frowning, and Ciel is surprised, because he now knows that she _knows_, and Sebastian has known this all along_._

**43.** Her fingertip is pricked by her sewing needle and the very sight of it stirs his inner demon then, for there's nothing more stimulating to his kind than the scent of virgin blood.

**44.** Their own dirty little secret is out, and before Elizabeth has the chance to react, Edward flips over his chair and dives right across the table to reach for the butler by the neck.

**45.** Sebastian has stopped Ciel from striking Elizabeth in a fit of rage after she broke his family's ring once, but tonight in particular, Sebastian's disappointment in Ciel's rude behavior doesn't allow him to move a muscle when Elizabeth (who's clearly in the right to be upset this time) lifts her hand to his Master's cheek (who, really, deserved it).

**46.** As the pitch black butler bows to her on one devoted knee, her arms tingle and her breath gets caught inside her throat.

**47.** "To you Sebastian, I'm just a little girl, but you see…there's a hell lot more to me than that."

**48.** When Elizabeth takes a short break from writing her own poetry, she looks up and curiously questions Sebastian what three-word phrase would best describe _something that's_ _rather_ _beautiful, yet deadly at the same time_; and he recommends, "A Knight's daughter."

**49.** She seems to float the mere surface of sin, somehow remaining unspoiled and clean while she tries to make him _drown_ in it—remarkably she has become a demon's personal demon.

**50.** What draws Elizabeth to Sebastian more and more has nothing to do with how handsome he is…it's how he _listens_ to her.

**51.** The fixed expression on her face actually stalls Sebastian for a moment or two, because it appears as if she is about to _eat—him—alive_.

**52.** Her mother prefers Sebastian's hair to be properly slicked back in public, but Elizabeth knows her secret lover is somewhat of a rebel and she personally wouldn't have his hair any other way than the dark unruly mess that it was.

**53.** "What would you do if _you_ had a soul?" she queries him, and he only shrugs back at her, totally indifferent to the matter.

**54.** She's not really used to this…because with Ciel, she's always the talker, the planner, the main decision maker and he never wants to say much in return, though now, here is his butler standing straight and firm in front of her, waiting for her to speak.

**55.** He waits by her bed for hours on end until, finally, her eyes flutter open towards the ceiling and they're solid black.

**56.** Sebastian notices her smiling contently in her sleep while lying back on the grass, and later when he asks her what she could possibly dreaming about, she says softly, "I dreamt that I was kissed by an angel."

**57.** She still doesn't know his one true identity yet, so whenever they make love in the shadows of midnight, she improvises a name to breathe into his ear over and over, _"Mephistopheles_..._Mephistopheles…," _though, he doesn't complain and simply admires her creativity as he urges them on.

**58.** After Sebastian thinks he is reminding her that Ciel is the most important person in her life, Elizabeth pauses and turns back around to correct him, "I do love Ciel with all my heart, Sebastian…but I'd give up my very _soul_ without a second thought for my brother."

**59.** His claws trail up her naked spine and he enjoys feeling her tremble afterwards.

**60.** "You are a good butler, Sebastian," she says mournfully, "…but you're not a very good friend."

**61.** Surprisingly, it takes Sebastian a full minute to realize she has intoxicated herself, and even though she comes off as a silly drunk more than any other type, she still goes on a sarcastic tangent, "You know—_hic_—I always hated this suit on you, it's far too fancy and snobbish, and too _black_—_hic_—loosen up, why don't you?"

**62.** As he strolls near, she hears the Church bells toll in the distance and the gargoyles roar in warning.

**63\. **His eyes burn a bright red, shining straight through the dark and instead of running away in fright, she smiles back at him in thanks for _finally_ letting her see the long-kept unspoken truth.

**64.** "Is there something you wish to tell me, Milady?"

**65.** She's been a widow for two full years now and was growing quite tired of it, so the next morning, she's feeling refreshed and satisfied for once as she walks out of the bedroom draped in Sebastian's large white work shirt and discovers him down in the kitchen, making her breakfast simply because he wanted to.

**66.** Ghosts of the past usually follow in other people's footsteps, whereas a demon follows in hers.

**67\. **The exaggerated manner in which she interacts with Ciel hardly can hold the demon's attention for that long before he tunes her out, though once he sees how comfortable and natural she acts around just her brother, then he finds her a tad bit more likable.

**68.** She feels as if she's truly going mad from all of her husband's secrets, and when she comments on maybe locking herself away in the Asylum, Sebastian is there to remind her to _stay strong_, for that's the only way she'd ever survive the weight of his secrets when they all come crashing down.

**69.** Every autumn she visits the gravesite, and every year there's a large crow perched upon the Ciel's headstone _waiting_ for her to arrive, as if it's _waiting_ for something else to happen when she does.

**70.** Elizabeth and the butler somehow form a silent agreement determining that, neither of them will stop pretending to be the people Ciel expects them to be, despite the obvious distrust and revulsion they both hold towards each other.

**71.** In the midsummer, Sebastian comes outside to inform her that the tea is prepared and she's suddenly high up in the oak tree, shoes off, gazing at the horizon with her legs bent over the branch, merrily swinging back and forth.

**72.** At first her eyes look plain green to him, but no, overtime they become emerald green, a real treasure to behold.

**73.** This isn't some practice drill—this is Ciel down to working with a smaller handgun and Finny is dangling off the roof by one strained arm—and all Elizabeth has in her reach at this time is a fork and a silver platter, but Sebastian quickly appears at her side, offering her two of his sharpest knives in order to help them hold the invaders back.

**74.** When she and Sebastian do share a bed for the first time, a second time, a seventh time…Elizabeth always makes sure she is facing him directly during all the waves of pleasure, because his eyes are her favorite thing about him.

**75.** His name echoes desperately throughout the household as she clutches tightly to Ciel's cold pale form.

**76.** He knows how she likes to eat her cake…one fluffy layer of white vanilla on the top, but the deeper she cuts into it, the darker and heavier it is with cocoa.

**77.** Elizabeth requests that he will practice a newer dance with her since Ciel is already sleeping upstairs, and he does; he twirls her elegantly all around the entrance hall.

**78.** Little does he know, she's getting ready to strike.

**79.** On one early morning, a bored Elizabeth can't fall back to sleep, therefore, she wanders around the soundless Manor and actually ends up helping Sebastian dress for the day by buttoning up his vest herself and she accurately knots his black tie at the base of his throat, just to have something to do until everyone else woke up.

**80.** In some ways, she's stronger than Ciel, and in some ways she's even crueler than Ciel…but in other ways, she's more comical than Ciel is and oh so much sweeter.

**81.** She wants to open the chest and peek inside, but the butler has the key.

**82.** "You betrayed him!" she cries out, and he turns away laughing hysterically like a proud madman.

**83.** The demon smiles down at her with all the reassurance that he can muster, however this child, the Master's cousin, still looks back up at him full of doubt and bitterness.

**84.** He sees that she's getting all flustered and heated when all her arrows miss their marks simply by a few inches each time she pulls on the bow, so eventually he comes up behind her, positioning his hands over hers, and as they do it together, the last arrow hits the very core of the rings.

**85.** They'd kill _for_ each other before they'd try actually killing each other.

**86.** While Ciel is inside the tailor shop paying for her new gowns, a lowly painter carrying a portable easel and art supplies stops dead in his tracks, observes Elizabeth standing there with Sebastian with imaginative delight and her cheeks flush a deep red after he offers, "How'a 'bout a portrait for the lovely couple?!"

**87.** "…Sebastian, help me put this necklace on, won't you?"

**88.** It's dark, they're all alone in the cellar, and amazingly enough they've managed to tie Sebastian down to a chair and he looks up helplessly towards her, his bloodied eyes are pleading for perhaps a little mercy—mercy that they both know he doesn't deserve, mercy she just can't give him as the Priest and Edward carry on with the Exorcism, _"...omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, et secta diabolica, Ergo draco maledicte et section, Ergo draco maledicte et legio secta diabolica...!"_

**89.** Elizabeth figures she probably shouldn't be laughing at him like this now that he's told her something very personal but she cannot help herself, "You have a _tail_? Hah! Is it furry, or pointed?

**90\. **Fellow Ladies and Gentlemen of the Court hear the Countess Phantomhive joke about her butler on a regular basis, but when somebody else gets forceful and tries to verbally attack him, she'll glower back at them instead and defend Sebastian entirely, "I'm the only one who can speak to him like that."

**91.** While he's stuck chasing souls in the dark, _she's_ out there chasing butterflies in the sun.

**92.** Being a widow is difficult enough for a young woman of her age; being a loving single mother to Ciel's infant son is becoming a worrisome task in its own right now that he's constantly growing and learning what roles a typical family should consist of…and things surely don't get any _less_ complicated around the house as soon as little Vincent begins to recognize Sebastian as his own _"Papa!"_

**93.** She's completely dismayed by the news, but somehow her eyes remain determined as she watches him finish the whole story; though the demon is skeptical and concerned in every way possible once she promises him, "I don't care…I will save you _both_."

**94.** There's a an old ghost legend…one about the restless spirit of a Warrior Countess who carries a sword in each hand as she rides swiftly through the fog once a year upon the back of a massive-winged crow that can choose to stand on two legs if he wishes and their eyes shall glow red if they spot a new target.

**95.** He hates her…he hates her so much that he starts to mistake that hate for lust.

**96.** The Countess wears a blue hope diamond on her finger and a red ruby around her neck in honor of the two men she has each loved once.

**97.** Sebastian privately notes how lovely she really does look in dark blue.

**98.** The criminal lifts his hand, aiming the gun straight at Sebastian and Elizabeth doesn't know about his hidden nature, so thinking it must count for something, she acts on impulse to protect her friend, diving in _front_ of him and taking a bullet right through the stomach; the demon is stunned motionless when he is soon painted completely red.

**99.** She dies choking, she goes down kicking and fighting until she finally stops breathing under his iron grip; and well, within consideration, he does not expect anything less from her.

**100.** Her lips touch his, and in this delicate moment, Sebastian remembers what Heaven is.

**101.** He shares his years of facts and secrets with the Countess and teaches her all the riddles of the world beyond hers, and in turn she teaches him to apprehend the complexities behind human nature much better, so that way, together they'll be unstoppable.

**102.** Elizabeth memorizes the lean shape of Ciel, from his small shoulders to the flatness of his smooth chest, but lately, her fingertips are itching to study somebody else, and soon Sebastian's body gradually overlaps Ciel's place in her mind.

**103.** Gasping, dripping wet with rain water, her heart drums hard inside her ribs as she runs away—and runs, and runs, and _runs—_from the pair of almost-kidnappers who also tried to lift her skirts against her will, and eventually her knees give in and she crashes into the soppy soil, screaming in surprise as soon as Sebastian suddenly jumps down in front her to rush her back to safety.

**104.** Elizabeth wakes abruptly to find herself laying there alone; and when her head turns on the pillow, she discovers him on the far edge of the bed glowering at the clock, calculating the minutes they have left before he must return to Hell.

**105.** The day she finds out about everything, the demon advises her to not get involved with the Master's deal, that she is free to live her own life and shouldn't waste her time with planning some pointless recuse mission—Elizabeth promises him she won't—and they both know this is a lie—for she's far too righteous to let it all go without a fair fight.

**106.** She reads her collection of literature written by strong-minded female authors of her time until the last candle burns real low and he comes in to blow it out and bid her goodnight.

**107.** She feels like the blood splattered on her skin and on her nightgown will soak deep enough to taint her soul, although, as the butler rings out the wet cloth between his hands and wipes at her face, he praises her, "You did the right thing, Milady, you did it to protect him."

**108.** She tells him of beautiful princesses locked up away in towers, but she's annoyed when doing so, because all the Knights in these stories are arrogant men only coming to claim their prize.

**109.** She turns to him in question, and the butler simply shakes his head, _Not yet, not yet._

**110.** Forwards, backwards, parry, spin, lash, and thrust—their nightly duel that takes place in the ballroom is a calculated and nimble, a dance fit for warriors only, and a joyful, proud laughter erupts from both opponents—Elizabeth and Charles Gray are such a perfect combination of clashing blades and delicate footwork that even Sebastian stalls in the hallway for an instant to marvel at the sight.

**111.** Somehow Sebastian's eventual fondness for her does more than please her, it _empowers_ her actually, makes her feel like she can't be touched for he won't let that ever happen.

**112.** She grins up at him with all the sweetness of a love cherub, but still with the hidden wickedness of something _else_.

**113\. **Through a touch on his shoulder, a shrug, a brisk nod, a smile, a scowl, or a shared glance, everything is heard between her and Sebastian even without one real word.

**114\. **_It's for Ciel's happiness_, she likes to say…still, Sebastian flinches at the sight of pink silk ribbons touching him again and he murmurs to her: "You were a lot more fun when you are slaying the undead."

**115.** She's an unexpected flurry of rage and her fist actually hits Sebastian square in the shoulder, rather hard for someone of her size, "That's for knocking me from behind out on the ship!"

**116.** Sebastian obviously doesn't have a Contract with _her_, and he's unsure if he would ever consider that silly possibility…nonetheless, he starts to feel as if he knows the rhythm of her soul just as well as any other.

**117.** Elizabeth knows Sebastian is an able butler, that she shouldn't even worry for his own safety when Ceil orders him to take care of the situation, but she does.

**118.** By sunrise, Elizabeth has to recover from drinking too much wine the night before and she does a doubletake while passing the mirror, because there are new marks on her skin she didn't own before—_are those bite marks?_

**119.** It was unescapable, and try as she might she can't change it—she drills every argument deep into her mind using her mother's stern voice for emphasis while she tries to justify their growing bond further, to defend their sparking chemistry—though in the end, she _still_ can't a thing about it, she wants Sebastian with her.

**120.** The demon feels a foreign gut-clenching sensation wash over him when he overhears her reciting her bedside prayers that night, asking the Good Lord to not only keep Ciel safe, but _him_ as well—no one has ever prayed for him before.

**121.** Ciel is dead, their child is dead too (died from a horrid fever), and now their butler is her lover…yet, they're not in love…Sebastian cannot love, for he does not understand love, he only what knows what lust it, but she's working on it.

**122.** It is meant to be an amusing parlor game, nothing more...but apparently the Séance's invocation does something to Sebastian's eyes in the far dark corner—it makes them glow—and amongst the chuckling adults, she happens to be the only one who really notices.

**123.** Sebastian, with his arms angled slightly outwards, holds steady contact with her as the ice continues to pop, creak, and snap under their feet, and his tone is even steadier, "Don't move until I say so…on three, we'll step in closer together."

**124.** The Master and Countess Elizabeth are expecting their first child, and unlike the rest of London, Sebastian of course doesn't invest too much personal thought into it underneath his false smiles; but he is honestly a little caught off guard when Elizabeth laughs, "Oh, come on now silly, it's alright," while sitting in her rocking chair, and just grabs his hand and she presses it against her swelling belly to feel the child happily kicking inside of her, and Sebastian becomes more amazed by how humans are reproduced.

**125.** The first time she meets Sebastian in person, she's quite young yet, but straightway he doesn't strike her as a very pious man.

**126\. **As his black-nailed fingers reach for the stray curl flying in her view, pushing it back her ear, she's unsure where this path will lead her to, either Heaven or Hell, and quite frankly, she doesn't really care anymore.

**127.** In the instant those vile men out on some kind of witch hunt kill her on the floor, right under the powerful beat of his wings, the demon breaks the chains they tethered him to and he lands in the fresh pool of her blood, inspects at her tattered body with disbelief and rage, and he lets out a long shriek so fierce and startling, the sound makes the murders go deaf on the spot and shatters all the glass surrounding them.

**128.** There comes a time when a widow in her position is done grieving over her losses, and tonight Elizabeth tells Sebastian she needs to enjoy herself again for one night…therefore, she instructs him first to disguise her as a common working man, then to take her to the drunkest and roughest tavern in town. "…Hopefully, Sebastian, with a little luck we can start a fist brawl."

**129.** There was nowhere left to go, no real money to his name, no safe haven for him left to seek out, not even Hell; she's closing in on him and he has to face their battle head on, for she has tracked him country after country, and she's out for his blood.

**130.** She kisses him passionately down his throat and with her hands peeling away his vest, she silently begs him to stop being so proper, so…_Sebastian the Butler_…tonight she wants him to go wild, tonight she needs the beast to awaken.

**131.** Even a human's personality can be deceiving, and the demon starts to change his original opinion regarding Ciel and Elizabeth—he doesn't worry about Elizabeth falling out of pace with them anymore, no…he's beginning to wonder if _Ciel_ will be able to keep up with _her_ in the long run, because she's always on the move, always topping herself, she's always thirsty for action whereas he tries to avoid it—and by now, it's like watching a rare fragile snowflake trying to survive within the lively currents of a firestorm.

**132\. **Her head is swimming with liquor again and she's all snorts and bubbly giggles when he has to literally pick her up and carry her all the way home.

**133.** No one really understands how the factory's new machinery caught fire and began to destroy the building that was on show for any interested wealthy investors…but once the Countess runs up to them amidst the whole commotion in the street with tears already staining her cheeks, she doesn't even think to ask her husband to do something, in fact, she stumbles right past Ciel without one glance and immediately addresses Sebastian directly, _"Please, Sebastian, get Edward out of there; I know you can!" _she screams, pounding on his chest, and he races off to do just that.

**134.** No doubt that Ciel was a rather intriguing soul, although Elizabeth in all honesty, turns out to be his favorite Contract Client yet—because unlike Ciel and the others before her—she seems to hold more appropriate respect for his nature, she _believes_ in him wholly, she doesn't _degrade_ him or call herself his superior in public, and she _never_ takes him for granted.

**135.** She comes to Manor to smite them both; Sebastian and Ciel are caught by surprise and they can tell she doesn't really want to do it since she cares for them, but she says the Archangels have visited her and granted her a greater purpose in life, so, as she lifts her swords to send them where they belong and to cleanse the house of its evil aura, her blades glow brightly with Holy Light and Sebastian disintegrates to ash first, with one last memory of a stunning Chosen Defender, earning her wings.

**136.** The sound of light weeping steers him straight to her door.

**137\. **"Elizabeth…," the creature purrs warningly, folding its wings around itself like a large black before strolling forward, "Go back into your room…play with your dolls and your trinkets, forget about the boy…"

**138.** What he feels when she willingly steps into his open arms is not normal for a demon by any means.

**139.** The Countess realizes just hard she is falling for his charm as soon as her nerves jump alive at the mere sound of his tea trolley being pushed towards the doorway.

**140.** Elizabeth thought their private casual discussions were harmless at first, but as the years drag on, she's becoming more nervous for the dynamic of their household and Ciel himself is growing exasperated (_greener_) about it.

**141.** Her eyes are milky black again while she walks to him, and he cannot wait for her at the end of the corridor any longer so he moves to meet her halfway instead.

**142.** His system is not made to sympathize with another living being, certainly not with humans, though at least for her, he's willing to put more effort into feigning it.

**143.** Ciel almost _rips_ Sebastian away from Elizabeth—they were just getting too close for two friends dancing with each other out of simple _politeness_—of course Ciel trusts her completely, though now he does not trust the demon as much as he used to.

**144.** Elizabeth goes on the search, refusing to surrender just yet; her father has actually taught her how to hunt wild birds in the past, even how to track a stag with a bow and arrow…but she wonders who can teach her how to accurately hunt down a demon who has recently fed.

**145\. **She figures that she does deserve someone better than Ciel, though once she and the _demon_ engage in something reckless and forbidden, she thinks, _Then again, maybe I don't…_

**146.** Sebastian must think what she doesn't hear can't hurt her, but in reality, it's all those words he doesn't say that are slowly killing her.

**147.** It's very strange for him to realize the truth, but it's been another five hundred years since the Victorian Age has passed, and of all of things, he still remembers what her smile looked like in the back of his mind.

**148.** Reflecting back on it now, Elizabeth can pinpoint the precise moment she finally broke her brother's heart with much disappointment and confusion—they were alone in the Drawing Room when he asked her, "Why him, Lizzy, what are you _doing_ to yourself?"

**149.** Ciel slowly paces backwards from the door that is carelessly left partway open by the _couple_ stealing a hot kiss behind it, and with one wide eye and a feeling of uneasiness building in his gut, he recalls that he is going to lose his soul to the demonic butler one day, but he wonders since when is losing Lizzy to him too part of their deal?

**150.** "You should go back to your family, Lady Elizabeth…," he whispers hotly, darkly, smoothly in the summer breeze, as if he can hardly restrain himself from even touching her while they linger here under the swaying willow tree, "…before I devour you."

**151.** They're now battling criminals inside an empty warehouse near dusk, and while Ciel runs to the sideline quickly to reload his handgun, he's still tortured and absolutely disgusted by the sight of the red _splashing_ everywhere—but little does he know—that his butler and his young wife are standing side by side in the middle of the floor yet with their blades drawn and they cannot help but to a share a look and smirk proudly at the bloodshed they've accomplished.

**152.** Sebastian has this silly habit of warning her to not each too much of his food, and she's left wondering why this is.

**153.** He scoffs right in her face when it's _all over,_ but Elizabeth says that she forgives him nonetheless.

**154.** It can be easy to fall prey to dark emotions in such times as these, and a Lady's emotional steadiness simply depends on something so small (or large) such as witnessing the assassination of a powerful demon for instance; and Sebastian's eternal absence simply drops her further into the cold dark pit of: "What hope is there if not even he could stop Death?"

**155.** Upon this fateful afternoon, when the demon is the one asking all the questions this time, trying to figure out _why_ she even carried the bottle of poison around with her, Elizabeth finally tells him a deep, deep secret that not even her own parents know about, and her own voice drips with both woe and loyalty at once, "…Years ago, Uncle Vincent pulled _me_ aside one day…he was miserable as we talked in private…but he acted like he had to choose the lesser of two evils…and it was as if he had _suspected_ something was going to happen…and because I would be the closest to Ciel and would love him enough to do it myself…Vincent said that I might need to kill Ciel if he'd ever _change, _and it'd be for the better of _everyone_."

**156.** Who'd ever think that a person of her status would really consider buying _him_ a separate _Christmas_ gift this year—but she's handing him the tall pink hatbox wrapped with purple ribbons anyway, and he knows he is forced to open it—then he's utterly speechless when a sleek all-black feline pokes her head out at him mowing softly, making Elizabeth smile fondly.

**157.** This wasn't exactly the fantasy wedding she has hoped for all the years prior to this day, because when she must say, "I do," it feels like she is vowing herself to the _set_, to both of them, not just Ciel…however, she agrees anyhow since having them deeply linked as they are—always being side by side—and living with that quirk has to be better than gaining nothing at all.

**158.** Afternoons like these are precious, when Elizabeth can lose herself behind all the library books and spend at least a couple of hours chuckling and gossiping along with Edward and Charles Gray without obsessing over the secretive nature of Ciel or Sebastian.

**159\. **If Sebastian has learned anything while living with a human like Ciel, it's how to soothe one out of a nightmare, which he thinks comes in handy after Elizabeth becomes prone to screaming in terror in the dead of night as well…the only difference is, instead of squirming away from his reach, she expects him to let her cling to him until her tears subside.

**160.** She has always been a resolver by nature, totally driven to change things around for those she cherished, thus, she invests a lot of her own time and energy shoving all the darkness back down that Sebastian constantly likes to leave in his wake.

**161.** Her lips are numb and pressed together from the heavy heartache and she can't find her voice, so the name that actually breaks the silence isn't _Ciel_, it's, "Lady Elizabeth?"

**162.** Elizabeth senses the day is drawing near, but when it finally hits her, she still cannot believe she's cornered here, needing to choose living with Ciel _or_ Sabastian for the rest of their lives, but never all _together_ like a family should.

**163\. **Elizabeth doesn't think she has changed that much since she has married Ciel; Sebastian comments she has changed quite a bit.

**164.** Some days, Sebastian scares himself when he smirks at the sound so _easily_ these days and he starts to believe that he's been away from home far too long, because lately, the Countess' laugh is becoming more and more contagious for him.

**165.** Whose gaze meets hers in mirror…the sweet girl she wishes she could be with Ciel, or the hardhearted huntress she's truthfully becoming around Sebastian?

**166.** Everything that makes up Sebastian—his suit, the cufflinks, that a long black tie, a polite hello, one pair of dark polished shoes—seem so ordinary to the naked eye, but the longer he stays around, the more she is beginning to notice that they all link to a relentless evil dwelling underneath.

**167.** "No, Sebastian," she answers his casual joke of a question (_Do you really think I would be that heartless, Milady?_) rather coolly, which he is not originally expecting, "…I do believe you have a heart, but it's hollow...and black."

**168 (130 Part II). **He kisses her first this time, firmly on the mouth, using his tongue as he gladly entangles his gloved fingers in her loose full curls and he coaxes her to stop being so…fucking _adorable _for once, because tonight it's just him and her, and he wants to run amuck and get fired up, and he's craving to provoke with the warrior within her.

**169.** That bright wishful future of theirs has vanished; the destruction that followed has tied itself tightly to her as well and all Elizabeth can think to do now is try to move on and hopefully stay as one of Sebastian's few contacts in the human world—merely to keep _something_ familiar for herself.

**170.** For someone who can kill a walking corpse without blinking, tenderness comes so naturally to her eyes as she gazes back at them both from down the beach.

**171.** "…Because you're family too, Sebastian," she offers him gently, and for the first time in centuries he wonders what _that_ word actually means to himself.

**172.** _You can't resist the temptation_, his voice is rings forth through her bones as he trails a kiss along the curve of her ear, but she just laughs teasingly and draws him closer to her, whispering back, "Either can you."

**173.** The Law comes within two days to arrest him _and_ Elizabeth for the murder of the Phantomhive Heir, but they both remain jaw-clamped-shut and refuse to utter a single word about the truth...it's not as if a petty jail cell is going to be able to hold Sebastian in for too long, anyhow.

**174.** As Sebastian fixes their son's new school tie and brushes out the wrinkles at his shoulders, making certain that he _looks_ human to blend in perfectly with the other students but still looks dignified enough to stand out with some dignity, he properly coaches their son to behave with unending poise and subtle determination on his first day of classes…whereas Elizabeth, reading a book on the sofa at that moment, suddenly glances up at the boy with a very sweet, knowing motherly smile and coos dangerously, "Give them hell, darling!"…and Sebastian sighs.

**175.** Elizabeth hisses behind her teeth and falls down on her twisting knee; when it happens, the demon stops, thinking he's pushed her too far this time, that he's forgotten that she is only human after all—however—she breaths in deeply and finds the will to stand, trying to ignore the limp she has now—and she raises her sword before him, instructing, "Again."

**176.** Sebastian is still hungry, so he has offered the Countess gold, crowns, nations, everything in the world to her—_twice_, but she just turns him down— for she's resilient in the face of the evil that is himself.

**177.** Elizabeth was the first to notice him looking at her a bit differently than a typical butler really should; and God forbid her mother notices it next!

**178.** They're so close to each other every single day physically since they live under the same roof now, but Elizabeth has never _felt_ so distant form another person in her lifetime than she does from the mysterious butler Sebastian…

**179.** One minute he is merely helping her take off her coat and bonnet, and then, they're pressed against the wall lips locking together.

**180.** The last time she sees Sebastian in person, she's reaching twenty-three, wearing a black mourner's veil, and she's suspecting Charles Gray might become her second husband demanded by society—the next time she happens to see him again, they cross paths at the market on sheer chance while he's running errands apparently for another master—and by now, she's almost sixty…not ugly per se, but she's still brittle with long whitish hair as she holds her granddaughter's little hand tenderly, although, it takes him a moment longer to realize who _she_ is in return—for he looks exactly the_ same _and doesn't seem to know what to say to her exactly; he just stares at her silently —and so, her free hand reaches out in awe and confusion, fingers trembling slightly as they brush over the shiney silver buttons of his new uniform to make sure he's _real_ and isn't a ghost—but then they both snap out of the trance of blurred memories when the child pipes up, "Grand-mama Gray?"

**181.** Sebastian's really the only one who knows just how vulgar her sense of humor can get ever since the day he had told her that he_ couldn't get it in_ (while referring to her giant bag of luggage not fitting into the small carriage they had then to take on their holiday trip), and Elizabeth blinked and started to snicker back at him, as she remarked: "Well, could you at least get it _up_?"

**182.** It's odd; some days, Elizabeth occasionally jokes around and accuses Sebastian of gaining feelings for her and most of the time, he doesn't even say a word back to her, neither words of truth, nor denial.

**183.** "Sebastian…," she declares carefully one day, peering down at her own dessert, "how come I've never seen _you_ eat?"

**184.** Sebastian's bedded a lot of demonic females in his time, besides that, he has tempted even more mortal men and maidens than he can count, though for some reason...even if he never had actually touched the Countess Phantomhive in such a manner back then, she's still the one who sticks to his mind year after decade after era.

**185.** For a full week she's been in a foul mood, growing quiet, cold, and unresponsive, and Sebastian curses the whole damn world when he's the one who has to surrender his own pride to crawl back her and apologize—even though he doesn't really mean it.

**186.** Elizabeth gawked with wide eyes and mouth open at his final accomplishments, after asking Sebastian to organize the closet once she moved in, but, she never expected this; "Oh," she gushes loudly in pure girlish wonder, "…my _purses_, my _hats_…they're smallest to largest, _and_ they're _color_ _coordinated_…you know me so well," then she pauses, making him raise a brow, "I don't know if I like that."

**187.** She wants to sink to the ground and shout away her anguish, but they just continue on their way back towards the Manor while the butler stops every twenty paces or so to make sure she's still following him.

**188.** By some strange phenomenon, the demon in him is fading, his eyes now are somehow softer, _browner_, his skin is no longer ghostly-looking, and she just keeps refilling all those empting spaces with the grace of love and kindness.

**189.** She replies with, "Cry, Sebastian…cry for me just once," and he stays his tongue and simply walks away, leaving her alone to weep on the rocky pathway, because he just can't do that.

**190.** He chuckles in spite of himself when Elizabeth shows him the firewood she has gathered herself for that evening and he sees the axe hidden behind her cloak.

**191.**_ Sebastian, is black really your favorite color? _she asks him, not believing all the hype about it, and he says, "No, it's gold."

**192.** He tells her that the poor have certain freedoms, the rich have more freedoms, and the soulless have even more freedoms still.

**193.** Frankly, forcing Ciel and Elizabeth apart was not so much of a real challenge for Edward since his little cousin in all actuality, did most of the work for him…but now that he has learned of Elizabeth's newest secret, Edward is growing a bit more worried, because Sebastian is entirely new game territory.

**194.** When the gown is whisked away from her body for its alterations, Elizabeth begins to step off the tall stool and within a second, there's a white gloved hand suddenly in her line of view…she doesn't even to ask why, she just accepts the assistance.

**195.** As a demon, he is known for starting the Black Plague, though startlingly enough…that seems such a minor deed compared to what _she_ has done after Ciel's death broke her in the same way it broke him losing his parents ironically…and now, her demonic wrath has set fire to entire nations, has sent hellhounds running wild such the world as ever seen, and lightning strikes in the distance as she turns her head to him, eyes sharp and fierce.

**196.** "Deliverance does not come to those who want it, Milady," the butler informs her dryly, "it only comes to those who deserve it."

**197.** Ciel's weaving tales of unwanted memories, she's weaving threads of silent dares and deceptions, and the black butler is weaving his own stories of the past and the future, and Elizabeth can already feel how they're all getting tangled tighter and tighter together.

**198.** It was one comforting conversation and one pat on the arm shared between them in public, and everyone starts screaming scandal—Elizabeth and Sebastian are both appalled by the ridiculous imaginations the reporters have who stalk them now behind trees, watching for any proof of real intimacy—then Ciel is left to set it all straight as a reliable source, arguing to the Press that his innocent wife is not using the household staff for _additional purposes_!

**199.** She's worn-out and irritable, and she spits her simmering hostility right at the black butler after he graciously recites his famous line of loyalties for Ciel again. "_Spoken like a true pet!"_

**200\. **She realizes that she can surprise him like no one else can, and that he actually _waits_ for a new surprise, so, here and there she'll simply do or say something at completely random moments for his benefit, to keep him entertained…or to throw him off track entirely.

* * *

**If any readers decide to leave a review, I'd love to know which numbers happen to be their favorite :)**

**Personally, the ones that I was the most happy with by the end were: 158, 150, 146, 127, 123, 103, 53, 43, 23, 26, and 7.**


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